A Mustard Seed

An Atom

When
the disciples asked Jesus to help enhance their belief he replied as
follows:

The lord answered,
“If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this
mulberry tree, ‘ May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would
obey you. “ Luke 17: 6 NLT

Then Jesus told
them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do
things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be
lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for
anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” Matthew 21:21-22 NLT

How are we believers interpret these pronouncements of
Jesus?

To be
honest, I personally must admit that I always tend to feel uncomfortable
when reading these pronouncements. The implications are so incomprehensible!

However, we must resist the
temptation to suggest that Jesus musthave been speaking
metaphorically. In my
heart, I know that such an interpretation is, nothing less than a “cop-out”!

On the other hand, accepting that Jesus was speaking literally, leaves one feeling uncertain, uncomfortable, guilty, and utterly inadequate!

So, how
must we interpret this definition of "Belief" as taught by Jesus?

First
of all, remember that He uttered these words in sincere response to his
disciples’ direct request regarding the enhancement of their devotion. Surely this
precludes the idea that His replies were merely metaphorical?

I
believe that the problem, rather, lies in our interpretation and also our visualization
of what Jesus is actually saying? Personally, at first glance at the abilities of such assured devotion, I
tend to visualize people with the ability to go through life endowed with the
power to selectively cause havoc being able to “Zap” anything to enforce obedient compliance to
his or her will.

I am
sure, however, that this is not what Jesus was trying to convey. If we read further it
becomes clear that Jesus was referring to the quality, and not the potential
power of our belief structure.

Like An atom:

This is
why the metaphor of “faith like an atom” is so meaningful.

An atom
is the embodiment of harnessed power. Misused, it can cause unimaginable
destruction. Witness the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or the
disastrous accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that has left an entire
region contaminated and uninhabitable for thousands of years.

On the
other hand the power harnessed inside an atom, when used wisely and with
caution, holds enormous benefits for mankind.

The
words that stand out are: “A trusting
acceptance of God’s will”. In other
words, confident conviction, although
potentially making God’s awesome power available to us, must always remain
subjected to “trusting acceptance of God’s will”. Faith must be handled with
care!

Harnessed Power

Abused Power

The Power Of Profound Conviction

We read
in James
5:16 “The earnest prayer of a righteous person. has great power and produces
wonderful results.”

The
analogy is that yes, profound conviction has enormous power. It is after all through such conviction that we lock into the Almighty’s power and potentially be used as instruments
for ding His will. This potential power, however, must be used responsibly and wisely “in trusting
acceptance of Gods will”.

Surely,
in this quantum age in which we live, we must acquire the ability to more deeply comprehend that the phrase “Faith like a mustard
seed” has an analogy with the term “Faith like an atom".